The  Indians- 

o F 

-Guatemau5 


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in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/indiansofguatemaOOpres 


JnbtattB  of  (guatpmala 


What  is  an 
Indian? 


A little  American 
girl  on  seeing  two 
Guatemala  Indian 
children  said,  “Oh 
Mamma,  I’d  like  to  play  with  those 
little  Indians — but  I’m  afraid  they 
would  shoot  me.’’  Of  course  that 
idea  of  what  an  Indian  is  came  from 
older  people.  Now  if  we  are  to 
understand  Guatemala’s  people,  we 
must  divest  our  minds  of  this  Modoc- 
Apache  idea.  In  southwestern 
United  States  we  begin  to  come  in 
contact  with  the  industrial  type  of 
Indian,  and  as  a rule  this  type  be- 
comes more  and  more  pronounced 
in  history  as  we  go  south.  In  Mex- 
ico we  had  the  Aztec  and  the  Toltec, 
and  in  Guatemala  and  Honduras  the 
still  more  cultured  Maya.  1 These 
peoples  instead  of  devoting  their  time 
to  war  and  the  chase,  centered  their 
interests  almost  exclusively  upon  the 
arts  of  peace.  Though  the  fires  of 
ancient  splendor  of  the  Maya  has 
been  blown  out  by  the  cruelty  of 
conquest,  and  the  abjection  of  servi- 
tude, the  genius  that  once  flamed  so 
brightly  still  smoulders  and  lies  latent, 
and  awaits  but  the  breath  of  oppor- 


1 


tunity  to  fan  it  again  into  a flame 
of  glor^  The  gentle,  sympathetic, 
industri^  character  of  these  Indians 
of  Mexico  and  Central  America  at 
once  explains  the  possibility  and 
blackens  the  perfidy  of  the  romantic 
though  unprovoked  conquest  of 
populous,  peaceable,  industrious  na- 
tions by  a mere  handful  of  gold- 
seeking Spanish  adventurers. 

Just  as  in  the  eastern 
todians  not  continent  we  have 
Homogeneous  very  white  and  very 

black  races,  dwarfs 
and  giants  and  all  degrees  between, 
so  in  the  western  we  have  the  negro 
Pericui  of  Lower  California,  the 
white  Chiriguanas  and  Pehuenches 
of  Brazil  and  Bolivia,  the  dwarf  races 
of  Peru  and  the  giant  people  of 
Tierra  del  Fuego  with  all  grades  be- 
tween. In  the  New  World  it  was  a 
brown  race  that  attained  the  highest 
civilization,  while  in  the  Old  it  was 
a white  race.  It  is  probable  that 
the  Indians  came  not  from  one 
source  but  from  several.  After 
they  had  invaded,  fought,  amalga- 
mated with,  subjugated,  chased  each 
other  hither  and  yon  as  races  would 
and  will,  the  curtain  of  history  rises 
upon  the  continent  revealing  be- 


2 


tween  650  and  700  nations  of 
aborigines  of  every  variety  of  char- 
acter, size,  color,  language,  customs 
and  capability.  Of  these  over  fifty 
are  found  in  Central  America,  thirty- 
six  in  Guatemala  alone.  Their  lan- 
guages in  some  cases  are  closely  re- 
lated, and  in  others  totally  distinct. 
While  Spanish  is  the  official  language 
and  is  the  one  most  generally  known 
a great  many  Indians  understand 
only  their  own  tongue.  The  Indians 
in  each  town  are  very  self-centered 
and  exclusive,  making  it  difficult  for 
an  Indian  preacher  from  another 
town  even  though  he  speaks  their 
own  language  to  be  very  efficient,  a 
condition  that  will  be  largely  rem- 
edied with  the  first  foothold  that  is 
obtained  in  the  new  town.  But 
there  should  be  a missionary  in  each 
nation,  who  could  learn  their  lan- 
guage and  devote  himself  exclusively 
to  them. 


Though  most  of  the 
Antiquity  Indian  nations  we 

have  any  knowledge 
of  still  exist,  albeit  in  a conquered 
and  abject  condition,  their  history 
reaches  back  to  the  conquest  and 
we  know  not  how  much  farther. 
The  Quiches  till  the  soil  yet  around 


3 


the  ruins  of  their  former  mighty 
cities,  while  their  legends  reach  far 
back  into  the  mists  and  shadows  of 
ages  long  gone  by.  ^Tbe  Mayas  have 
left  the  ruin  strewed  sites  of  their 
former  greatness,  but  the  neatly 
dressed  materials  of  their  scattered 
habitations,  their  ruined  temples, 
their  sacred  artificial  pyramids  and 
their  colossal  memorial  monoliths 
bear  a mute  and  melancholy  wit- 
ness to  their  once  superior  engineer- 
ing achievements,  their  architectural 
genius,  their  art  that  had  become 
illustrious  and  grown  old,  their  lit- 
erary attainments,  and  their  astro- 
nomical knowledge  that  had  ar- 
ranged a calendar  system  as  perfect 
as  our  own  with  all  our  science  of 
calculation  and  all  our  instruments 
of  precision!  American  antiquarians 
date  these "ivlaya  ruins  back  to  the 
earlier  centuries  of  the  Christian  era, 
the  Germans  think  they  have  stood 
for  five  thousand  years,  while  the 
French  think  the  sun  and  storms  of 
ten  milleniums  have  beaten  upon 
them,  yet  the  irrepressible  Maya  still 
holds  his  head  up  in  the  tempest  of 
adversity  as  unmoved  as  the  mighty 
monuments  of  his  fathers,  and  waits 
for  a better  day. 


4 


Peculiar 

Indian 

Mentality 


The  mental  processes 
of  the  Central  Amer- 
ican Indian  seem 
very  peculiar.  He 
arrives  at  conclu- 


sions by  paths  so  imperceptible,  by 
such  unimaginable  short  cuts,  that 
it  sometimes  seems  almost  uncanny. 
Even  their  words  and  concepts  seem 
cast  in  a different  mold  from  ours. 
For  example,  instead  of  having  a 
single  word  for  forest,  and  modify- 
ing it  to  express  its  varying  qual- 
ities, they  use  one  word  for  a forest 
on  a mountain,  another  for  a forest 
on  a slope,  another  in  a valley,  and 
another  in  a plain.  When  they 
would  speak  of  a man  as  orderly  or 
well  behaved,  they  say  he  is  a man 
who  “doesn*t-go-away-from-home- 
o’ nights.**  Instead  of  saying.  Good- 
bye (God  be  with  you)  they  say. 
Be  careful  not  to  fall  down.  In 
complicated  questions  they  often  ar- 
rive at  correct  conclusions  by  their 
short  mental  processes,  more  quickly 
than  we  do  with  our  more  preten- 
tious systematized  logic.  For  suc- 
cessful work,  all  this  must  be  under- 
stood by  the  missionary. 


5 


In  many  of  the  prin- 
Indian  ciples  set  forth  in 

Character  Utopia,  Sir  Thomas 

Moore  must  have 
been  describing  some  of  the  Indian 
nations  of  Central  America.  The 
land  belongs  to  all  and  is  parcelled 
out  annually.  It  is  remarkable  how 
in  such  unfavorable  conditions,  the 
Indian  morality  is  so  relatively  cor- 
rect, when  they  are  not  under  the 
influence  of  liquor  or  of  other  races. 
Though  he  represents  70%  of  the 
population,  he  is  charged  with  only 
25%  of  the  crime.  In  Guatemala 
City,  where  legal  pressure  is  strong- 
est, in  1915  the  Ladino  or  mixed 
race  showed  an  illegitimacy  of  63% 
while  the  Indians  had  but  27%. 
Where  drunkenness  prevails  the 
Indian  illegitimacy  runs  much  higher. 
The  Indian  is  instinctively  loyal, 
chaste,  very  respectful  to  his  authori- 
ties, conscientious,  religious,  gen- 
erous, grateful  for  favors,  habitually 
industrious  where  he  can  see  any- 
thing come  of  it,  tenacious  in  the 
face  of  difficulties,  \ capable  of  high 
intellectual  attainment  artistic  in 
temperament,  in  short  an  ideal  soil 
for  a high  type  of  Christian  culture. 
The  Indian  character  itself  is  a ring- 
ing call  for  evangelization. 

6 


Indian 

Homes 


The  conquered  and 
servile  condition  in 
which  the  Indians 
are  submerged,  gen- 


erally precludes  in  the  long  run  their 
having  any  wealth  beyond  what  is 
barely  necessary  to  keep  them  alive, 
TTieir  houses  are  generally  small, 
low,  smoky,  with  but  one  unglazed 
window  opening  or  oftener  none  at 
all,  giving  on  the  whole  the  appear- 
ance of  habitations  of  bears  or 
wolves  rather  than  of  human  beings. 
They  are  mostly  of  a single  room, 
with  little  or  no  furniture,  and  no 
regard  to  sanitation  as  we  under- 
stand it.  The  cooking  is  of  the 
simplest  and  crudest.  Life  has  little 
for  them  but  burden  bearing  and 
tears,  yet  with  it  all  there  is  about 
them  an  air  of  stoic  irrepressibility, 
while  through  it  all  there  shines  a 
tinge  of  faith  in  the  constitution  of 
things  and  a blind  and  indefinite 
hope  for  a better  day.  They  do  not 
know  what  it  is  they  need,  but  we 


do. 


Their  former  religion 
Ancient  was  apparently  a 
Religion  species  of  occultism, 

witchcraft  with  many 
charms,  incantations  and  cere- 


7 


monies.  It  was  under  the  care  of 
professional  religious  leaders  or 
wizards,  who  by  long  study  in  occult 
art  had  familiarized  themselves  with 
the  necessarily  extensive  religious 
conventionalities,  and  knew  how  to 
perform  the  intricate  rites  with  the 
supposed  maximum  results.  A com- 
plicated paraphernalia  was  in  use. 
They  practiced  sacrificing  fowls  and 
other  articles  of  food  on  the  tops 
of  the  volcanoes,  examining  the  in- 
testines of  the  fowls  to  foretell  the 
future  of  the  person  offering  the 
sacrifice.  Most  of  these  practices 
are  still  followed,  the  Catholic 
Church  either  adopting  them  under 
a Christian  name,  or  laughing  at 
them. 

Industrial  Innumerable  super- 

Superstitions 

mg  much  or  indus- 
trial and  domestic 
life.  For  instance,  they  eat  white 
cheese  when  planting  rice,  believing 
that  the  color  of  the  rice  will  be  in- 
fluenced by  the  color  of  the  food 
the  planter  eats.  When  planting 
sweet  potatoes  they  carry  a large 
cow  horn  slung  from  shoulder  or 
belt,  in  the  belief  that  it  will  influ- 
ence the  size  of  the  coming  vege- 


5 


table.  Large  round  earthenware 
jars  are  whitewashed  and  put  on 
stumps  in  the  pumpkin  patches,  that 
the  ambitious  pepo  may  see  how 
large  a well  bred  pumpkin  is  ex- 
pected to  grow,  and  do  its  best. 
They  have  all  the  superstitions  our 
grandfathers  had  about  planting  in 
the  right  time  of  the  moon,  and  a 
few  more  besides.  They  have  in- 
numerable remedial  superstitions 
and  practices,  some  of  them  quite 
heroic,  and  some  embodying  correct 
principles,  that  may  have  been 
reached  or  partly  so  by  experience, 
as  steam  baths  for  several  maladies, 
boiling  their  drinking  water,  etc. 

Ever  since  the  Span- 
ish conquest,  the  In- 
dian has  been  the 
servant  when  not  the 
slave  of  the  nation. 
He  is  the  public’s 
laborer,  the  messenger,  the  burden 
bearer.  He  does  the  work,  others 
enjoy  the  luxuries.  Logs  are  sawed 
into  boards  by  Indian  power  in  many 
places  because  his  wages  are  so  low 
that  the  steam  saw  cannot  compete 
with  him.  Year  in  and  year  out  he 
carries  enormous  burdens  beside 
bounding  rivers  because  it  would 


Present 
Social  and 
Industrial 
Condition 


9 


cost  more  to  harness  the  rivers  than 
he  gets  for  his  toil.  Many  Indians 
are  working  under  the  peonage  sys- 
tem for  from  three-fourths  of  a cent 
to  six  cents  a day.  We  knew  of  a 
case  where  a majordomo,  not  under 
the  peonage  system  but  in  voluntary 
wage  received  from  the  owner  of  a 
plantation  for  his  entire  time,  the 
princely  sum  of  thirty  cents  a month, 
and  the  salt  for  his  corn  cakes  (tor- 
tillas) ! Here  where  people  cannot 
freeze,  and  anyone  can  get  a banana 
to  prevent  starvation,  a maintenance 
wage  is  very  near  to  zero. 

It  is  pitiful  to  see 
Burden  human  beings  doing 

Bearing  labor  that  be- 

longs to  beasts  or 
machines.  Yonder  goes  a strong 

man  with  a burden  of  two  hundred 
pounds  on  his  back,  which  he  will 
carry  for  four  or  five  days  till  he 
reaches  his  destination,  only  to  get 
another  as  heavy  to  bring  back,  and 
then  repeat  the  task  indefinitely. 
Behind  him  trots  his  wife  with  a 
hundred  pounds  or  more,  from 
which  even  the  exigencies  of  mater 
nity  do  not  excuse  her.  It  not  in- 
frequently happens  that  a babe  is 
born  scores  of  miles  away  from 


10 


home,  with  only  the  loss  of  an  hour 
or  two  from  the  journey,  the  new 
mother  after  the  short  delay  re- 
appearing with  the  new  arrival  hung 
on  her  back,  while  her  loving  lord 
and  driver  considerately  takes  most 
or  all  of  her  load  in  addition  to  his 
own,  and  all  take  up  the  heavy  hope- 
less round  again.  Even  the  little  tot 
of  four  or  five  goes  trotting  along 
with  his  eight  inch  steps,  crying  be- 
times, for  it  is  very  hard  to  keep  up 
withTat  (father)  and  Nan  (mother), 
but  he  must  learn,  for  that  is  the 
only  school  he  will  ever  have  to 
train  him  for  the  wretched  servitude 
called  life,  to  which  he  is  fated.  All 
this  they  have  endured  for  genera- 
tions. What  a race  of  people! 
With  Christianity,  freedom  and  edu- 
cation they  would  make  one  of  the 
cleanest  and  finest  races  under  the 
sun,  but  without  the  Gospel  their 
outlook  is  as  hopeless  as  despair 
itself. 


Both  earlier  and 
later  records  of  In- 
dian life  show  that 
they  have  always 
been  v/eak  in  the 


Moral  and 

Religious 

Condition 


matter  of  abstinence  from  strong 
drink.  Their  own  tribal  authorities 


11 


often  try  to  keep  away  from  the 
saloon,  but  conditions  are  all  against 
them.  Both  the  extensive  sugar 
cane  and  not  a little  of  the  fruit  crop 
are  manufactured  into  brandy.  A 
drink  costs  less  than  a cent  and  a 
thorough  intoxication  less  than  a 
nickel.  The  saloons  give  the  left 
overs  in  the  glasses  to  the  Indians, 
the  drink  demon  arouses  and  they 
spend  their  last  hard  earned  cent  for 
“burning  water**.  It  is  not  disgrace- 
ful. The  Indian  believes  brandy  is 
a good  substitute  for  food,  for  medi- 
cine, even  for  trouble.  In  religious 
festivals  they  must  have  brandy 
even  if  everything  else  is  wanting. 
A fermented  fruit  brandy  called 
“chicha**  is  much  used  by  the  In- 
dians, and  produces  the  most  fright- 
ful results  on  the  health  of  its  vic- 
tims. In  1913  there  were  56,200 
saloon  licenses  issued  by  the  Govern- 
ment, or  one  to  every  thirty-six  in- 
habitants, counting  men,  women  and 
children,  for  all  drink,  besides  an 
enormous  though  unknown  amount 
of  “moonshine**.  We  have  seen 
mothers  treating  their  children  and 
even  their  sucking  babes.  On  re- 
ligious feast  days  in  Indian  districts, 
the  roads  out  of  town  are  fairly 
ahowl  with  Indians  in  all  stages  of 

12 


intoxication.  You  may  see  little 
children  crying  because  Tat  and 
Nan  are  both  in  the  gutter,  and  the 
problem  of  looking  after  them  is  too 
much  for  the  baby  mind.  In  the 
redemption  of  the  Indian  from  this 
his  principal  vice,  no  help  can  be  ex- 
pected from  the  Government  be- 
cause of  the  Devil’s  old  sophism  of 
the  revenue.  Nor  does  a single  ray 
of  light  break  from  the  Catholic 
Church.  She  fattens  on  sin,  and 
liquor  is  a fruitful  mother  of  holy 
revenue.  Then  too  the  “holy 
father”  is  often  the  star  consumer  of 
the  stuff,  holding  the  drinking  rec- 
ord of  the  town.  The  best  priest  in 
the  country  confessed  to  the  writer 
that  “when  an  Indian  takes  to  liquor, 
nothing  can  save  him,  he  is  gone.” 
There  is  but  one  hope,  and  that 
shines  clear  and  strong — their  evan- 
gelization. This  has  been  tried  and 
does  the  work.  The  Indian  earnest- 
ness with  which  they  take  to  the 
Gospel  gives  them  an  almost  certain 
victory.  Again  we  exclaim.  What 
a field  for  mission  work! 

In  spite  of  better  in- 
Qlli^  stincts,  in  those  towns 

Weaknesses 

universal  solvent  of 
virtue,  has  effected  its  ravages,  un- 
13 


chastity  eJso  prevails  to  an  alarming 
extent.  Though  the  Indian  is  tem- 
peramentally honest,  the  cruelty  of 
his  servitude,  the  hopelessness  of  his 
outlook,  and  the  injustice  of  his 
treatment  breaks  his  sense  of  right, 
and  he  feels  justified  in  frequent  dis- 
honesty. After  universal  abuse  of 
his  frankness,  he  has  taken  refuge 
in  systematic  deception,  and  lives  a 
secret  life  for  himself  and  his  people, 
and  a quite  different  one  for  the 
outer  world.  Their  religious  life  is 
shot  through  with  superstition,  and 
the  Church  keeps  them  so,  where 
she  has  control,  for  a superstitious 
Indian  town  is  easiest  governed  and 
exploited.  Since,  then,  their  fearful 
moral  condition  is  rooted  in  liquor 
and  the  Church,  we  come  back 
again  from  this  side  to  the  fact  that 
the  only  hope  for  them  is  their  evan- 
gelization, and  hence  the  responsi- 
bility rests  directly  upon  us. 

The  Liberal  Govern- 
Indian  ment  is  making  ef- 

Education  forts  to  educate  In- 

dian children,  but 
finds  much  difficulty,  because  it  does 
not  enjoy  the  confidence  of  the  In- 
dian, who  for  that  reason  uses  every 
artifice  in  his  power  to  evade  educa- 


14 


tion ; because  his  children  after  learn- 
ing to  read  and  write  are  taken  from 
the  family  and  compelled  to  render 
literary  service  for  the  State  on  a 
starvation  wage;  and  chiefly  because 
the  main  failings  of  the  Indian  are 
moral  failings,  and  the  Government 
schools  are  professedly  irreligious, 
and  hence  fail  in  moral  force.  Since 
the  Government  cannot  and  the 
Church  will  not  educate  them,  their 
only  hope  here  also  is  the  Gospel, 
which  has  been  tried  and  proved 
capable  of  doing  the  work.  They 
want  to  learn  in  order  to  read  the 
Bible. 

Were  the  Indians 
Spanish  ^ ever  evangelized  ? 

Evangeliza-  The  chief  aim  of  the 

bon  Spanish  adventurers 

who  conquered  the 
country  was  to  get  gold,  by  violence, 
and  we  may  legitimately  look  with 
suspicion  upon  a propaganda  based 
upon  such  a foundation.  The  Gos- 
pel of  peace  is  not  the  kind  that  is 
propagated  by  the  sword,  by  burn- 
ing alive  brave  men  who  fight  in 
defense  of  their  country,  by  un- 
scrupulously robbing  its  “converts” 
of  all  they  possess,  and  reducing 
them  to  the  most  insupportable  servi- 


15 


tude,  the  priest  mostly  cooperating 
in  the  whole  criminal  proceeding, 
and  claiming  and  assuming  all  moral 
and  spiritual  responsibility.  Even  at 
the  best  the  faith  brought  to  the  In- 
dians, was  the  very  type  of  religion 
that  had  just  been  repudiated  by  all 
northern  Europe,  as  pernicious  and 
destructive  of  all  that  was  noblest 
and  best  in  man.  It  was  the  Gospel 
that  Luther  found  ninety-five  serious 
objections  to.  It  was  the  Gospel  of 
Tetzel,  of  Philip  II,  of  Torquemada, 
of  Domingo  de  Guzman,  of  the  In- 
quisition. It  came  to  the  New 
World  with  its  idolatry,  its  indulg- 
ences, its  dungeons  and  racks,  its 
absorption  of  human  rights,  its 
superstition  and  blight,  and  main- 
tained its  grip,  till  in  1871  the 
people  of  Guatemala  reached  the 
stage  of  degeneration  and  tyranny, 
where  humanity  could  endure  no 
more,  and  the  Catholic  people  of 
Guatemala  arose  against  their  own 
Church  and  hurled  her  out  of  her 
throne,  and  gave  the  nation  such  a 
decided  agnostic  bent,  that  the 
Church  until  now  has  never  re- 
covered. Were  the  Indians  evan- 
gelized? It  is  the  veriest  irony  to 
speak  of  such  a religion  carried  by 
such  men  with  such  motives  and 
16 


practices  as  evangelizing  anything. 
We  have  neither  biblical  nor  logical 
warrant  for  so  outrageous  an  abuse 
of  a plain  English  word. 


Probably  nowhere 
on  the  globe  is  a 
general  uplift  work 
more  needed  than 
among  the  Guate- 


Uplift  Work 
for  the 
Indian 


mala  Indians.  The  unspeakable  liv- 
ing conditions  in  which  they  exist, 
their  squalor,  high  mortality,  ignor- 
ant motherhood,  insanitation,  abject 
ideals  of  human  existence,  and  their 
general  hopelessness  call  for  a life 
wide  work,  such  as  neither  the  Gov- 
ernment, the  Church  nor  any  other 
factor  now  in  the  field,  save  the 
Gospel  can  give.  The  evangelizing 
and  general  uplift  work  of  our  Mis- 
sion should  be  steadily  pushed. 
Each  year  our  Bethany  Nurses* 
Training  School  is  sending  out  a 
little  class  of  trained  nurses  to  go 
among  the  people  and  tell  them  how 
to  keep  their  homes  clean,  and  the 
relation  of  health  to  cleanliness  and 
sobriety.  Some  of  these  may  go 
among  the  Indians.  We  hope  ere 
long  to  have  some  Indian  repre- 
sentatives among  the  nurses,  who 
may  teach  their  people  how  to  take 


17 


care  of  the  sick,  avoid  disease,  rear 
their  children,  and  prevent  the 
spread  of  contagious  disease.  With 
the  Gospel  will  come  an  improve- 
ment of  moral  and  industrial  con- 
ditions. Again  the  responsibility 
comes  home  to  us,  for  our  Mission 
is  the  only  agency  that  has  the 
fundamental  remedy. 

What  the  Indian 
The  Supreme  most  profoundly 
Need  needs  is  the  very 

thing  that  a mistaken 
American  Protestantism  almost  al- 
ways takes  it  for  granted  that  he 
has,  not  differential  theology  at  all, 
but  the  simplest  fundamental  ele- 
ments of  Christianity.  It  is  true 
they  have  many  of  the  religious 
terms  that  represent  these  things  to 
us,  but  so  warped  and  atrophied 
that  they  no  more  carry  the  Chris- 
tian conception  to  them  than  if  any 
other  word  were  used.  We  must 
divest  ourselves  of  the  idea  that 
Christianity  consists  of  words.  We 
cannot  feed  a starving  man  on  a 
grocery  catalogue,  nor  a starving 
soul  on  letters  of  the  alphabet.  To 
the  Indian  with  all  his  Catholic  train- 
ing, God  is  not  a sympathizing, 
care-taking,  hand-leading  heavenly 


18 


Father,  but  a powerful  absentee 
divinity,  less  sympathetic,  and  even 
more  inaccessible  than  Dai  Butz, 
Huitzilopochtli,  or  Onkelonkelu. 
Christ  is  not  the  tender  pitying  Re- 
deemer of  mankind  who  walks  with 
us  and  talks  with  us  and  tells  us  we 
are  His  own,  but  a cake  on  the  altar 
that  he  takes  his  hat  off  to,  and  eats. 
The  Holy  Ghost  is  not  the  Com- 
forter, the  Companion,  the  heavenly 
light,  but  either  the  personal  prop- 
erty of  the  Pope,  or  a silver  or  tin 
trinket  to  adorn  an  altar.  Sin  to 
the  Indian  is  not  rebellion  against 
an  infinite  Love  and  a law-governed 
universe  and  its  Maker,  it  is  only 
an  entry  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
ledger,  an  unfavorable  deal,  a bad 
bargain  for  a dozen  eggs  in  the  mar- 
ket. Repentance  in  Indian  practice 
has  not  a speaking  acquaintance 
with  the  Christian  saving  grace 
taught  by  Christ,  but  is  merely  a 
commercial  transaction,  a quid  pro 
quo,  a balancing  of  accounts.  Faith 
is  not  an  intelligent  appreciation  and 
acceptance  of  Divine  mercy  and 
grace,  but  the  blindest  and  most 
stupid  and  reprehensible  credulity, 
systematically  fostered  by  those  in 
whose  interest  it  operates.  For 
four  hundred  years  Catholicism  has 
19 


tried  to  feed  the  starving  Indian  soul 
on  an  institution,  while  he  craved  a 
personality,  and  the  result  is  one  of 
the  most  stupendous  failures  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  It  is  time 
Christianity  came  to  the  rescue  with 
the  A B C of  the  Gospel. 

The  Indian  needs  our 
help,  because  many 
of  the  same  super- 
stitions and  practices 
that  held  before  the 
conquest  are  still 
kept  up,  and  some  of  the  old  idols 
are  still  in  use;  because  the  images 
of  the  saints,  the  Virgin  Christ  and 
the  old  Indian  gods  are  sometimes 
used  interchangeably  by  the  same 
worshippers;  because  their  supersti- 
tions have  a cause  and  effect  rela- 
tion to  their  political,  social,  moral 
and  spiritual  perdition;  because  the 
drunkenness  and  unchastity  and  in- 
justice found  in  the  priesthood  ruins 
their  influence  for  good,  and  de- 
stroys the  hope  of  relief  from  that 
source;  because  the  Government  is 
professedly  agnostic  and  hence  lacks 
the  spiritual  factor  in  its  work;  be- 
cause the  fire  of  civilization  that  has 
smouldered  so  long  in  the  Indian 
soul,  needs  but  the  Gospel  to  flame 


Resume  of 
Reasons  for 
Evangeliza- 
tion 


20 


out  again  into  life  and  power  ;^e- 
cause  the  Guatemala  Indians  have 
extraordinary  capabilities!]  because 
having  the  Gospel  we  would  be 
criminally  responsible  if  we  failed  to 
give  it  to  them;  because  if  we  do  not 
give  it  to  them,  there  is  no  one  in 
sight  who  will. 


Effect  of  the 
Gospel  on 
Indian  Life 


It  is  impossible  to 
describe  the  quiet, 
philosophical  type  of 
joy  that  pervades  the 
being,  and  shines 
from  the  face  of  the  Indian,  when 
he  comes  to  realize  that  there  is  in- 
deed for  him  a great  sympathetic, 
all  powerful,  personal  God  and 
friend  and  that  he  has  actually  got 
into  enduring  touch  with  Him. 
When  his  deeply  religious  soul  at 
last  finds  its  normal  life,  his  wonder 
and  joy  passes  all  bounds,  and  his 
spiritual  power  becomes  correspond- 
ingly great.  Before  it  the  hitherto 
invincible  demon  of  alcohol  dis- 
appears like  the  mists  in  his  native 
valleys  before  the  power  of  the 
tropical  sun.  For  him  a personal 
Saviour  is  not  a theological  tenet, 
but  a living  personality  and  com- 
panionship. He  looks  upon  his  for- 
mer condition  as  upon  a man  that 


21 


no  longer  is,  and  on  his  present  self 
as  on  a man  that  was  not  but  has 
come  to  be,  as  if  there  was  no  con- 
nection whatever  between  the  two. 
True  faith  in  the  Indian  becomes 
intense,  absolute.  Normal  religion 
becomes  at  last  the  great  thing  of 
life  for  which  he  lives,  nay  it  is  life 
for  him.  It  cost  much  to  get  them 
started  in  the  road  of  redemption, 
but  they  are  like  sheep,  as  soon  as 
one  goes  over  the  bar,  the  rest  make 
haste  to  follow.  They  are  beginning 
to  realize  that  the  better  conditions 
that  they  have  blindly  sought  for 
ages  are  now  knocking  at  their 
doors.  At  last  they  have  found  a 
Friend!  A few  examples  will  illus- 
trate and  confirm  what  we  have  said. 


Pedro  Poz 


An  Indian  of  Sunil 
had  a wayward  son 
named  Pedro,  whom 
he  put  into  military  service  as  a 
punishment  for  his  wild  life.  While 
there  Pedro  came  in  contact  with 
the  Gospel  and  was  converted.  On 
release  he  not  only  abstained  from 
his  former  iniquities,  but  opened  his 
house  for  services  in  his  native 
tongue,  bought  lamps  and  benches, 
and  before  we  knew  it  had  a meet- 
ing of  over  thirty  Indians  to  whom 


22 


he  was  preaching  regularly.  Learn- 
ing of  his  zeal,  a young  American 
from  Aurora,  111.,  by  looking  after 
his  support  made  it  possible  for  him 
to  devote  one-half  his  time  to  the 
work  his  heart  was  in,  and  later  he 
was  taken  on  for  full  time.  For 
several  years  he  has  been  preaching 
the  Gospel  in  his  own  and  surround- 
ing towns  with  splendid  results.  His 
reformation  has  been  so  complete 
and  striking,  his  life  is  becoming  so 
strong  and  influential,  and  his  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  so  absolute,  that 
God  alone  knows  what  a life  of 
power  and  blessing  is  before  him. 
Without  the  Gospel  that  wonderful 
man  would  still  be  a drunken  worth- 
less Indian. 

Some  Indians  from 
Indians  of  Sunil,  down  on  a 
Sm  Antonio  coast  plantation, 

heard  that  at  San 
Antonio,  six  miles  away,  there  were 
Gospel  meetings,  and  began  to  at- 
tend and  interest  others  of  their 
people.  Soon  more  than  fifty  of 
them  were  regular  attendants.  The 
plantation  owner,  a fanatical  Cath- 
olic, learning  of  it,  sent  them  all  back 
to  their  native  town  to  get  them 
away  from  Protestantism,  and  had 


23 


fifty  new  ones  sent  down.  Those 
who  were  sent  home  found  Gospel 
meetings  there  in  their  own  lan- 
guage, and  the  new  ones  in  the 
plantation  began  to  attend  at  San 
Antonio.  The  outwitted  planter  pre- 
pared to  punish  the  chief  believers, 
but  just  then  his  son  came  home  and 
said  to  hini,  “Father,  all  who  follow 
that  religion  stop  getting  drunk, 
work  better,  give  full  days,  don’t 
fight  and  can  be  relied  on.  It  is 
more  for  our  interest  that  they 
should  go  there.”  The  father  soon 
found  his  son  was  right,  and  since 
then  he  himself  reminds  the  Indians 
when  preaching  day  comes.  The 
number  of  attendants  has  again  risen 
to  over  fifty  though  they  have  to 
tramp  six  miles  and  back,  after  dark, 
often  through  rain,  and  crossing 
three  dangerous  rivers  in  flood  sea- 
son. 


The  unevangelized 
Indian  celebrates  his 
funerals  with  a big 
brandy  wake,  hence 
fights,  wounds,  and 


An 

Abstinence 

Funeral 


sometimes  another  death  as  a conse- 
quence. They  must  get  permission 
of  the  plantation  owner  to  bury  their 
dead  in  a leind  that  was  once  all 


24 


their  own.  One  of  our  Indian  believ- 
ers lost  his  only  son  by  fever.  For 
the  funeral  he  called  in  some  fifteen 
of  his  fellow  evangelicals,  and  with- 
out a drop  of  liquor  held  a religious 
service,  and  thence  bore  the  body 
solemnly  away  for  burial.  Now  the 
plantation  owner  had  just  had  some 
annoying  experiences  with  loss  of 
employees,  imprisonments,  attend- 
ance at  court,  etc.,  in  consequence  of 
the  previous  funeral,  and  had  de- 
cided to  refuse  henceforth  all  per- 
mission for  funerals.  So  our  Indian 
father  was  flatly  refused  permission 
to  bury  his  son.  His  reply  to  the 
owner  ranks  as  a classic  piece  of 
testimony:  “Senor,  your  objection  is 
well  grounded,  for  that  is  what 
comes  from  the  use  of  ‘burning 
water.’  But  all  we  who  are  here  are 
Evangelicals,  and  not  one  of  us 
drinks  liquor.  Examine  for  yourself 
and  see  if  any  one  here  has  a bottle, 
if  any  one  of  us  has  the  stench  of 
liquor  on  him.  We  come  to  bury  our 
dead  decently  as  Christians.”  The 
owner  to  his  lasting  surprise  found  it 
true,  and  gladly  gave  his  permission 
for  the  first  Christian  funeral  he  had 
ever  witnessed.  Since  then  he  is 
loud  in  his  praise  of  a religion  that 
can  do  such  things  “even  for  Indi- 
25 


ans/*  It  was  his  first  contact  with 
the  Gospel  of  the  Living  Christ. 

In  Guatemala  the 
Vision  greater  part  of  the 

inhabitants,  the  best 
fundamental  qualities  of  character, 
the  greatest  capabilities,  the  finest 
material  for  future  development  be- 
long to  the  aborigines,  and  even  in 
the  mixed  race  the  Indian  blood  pre- 
vails. This  work  is  or  should  be 
mainly  an  Indian  work,  as  fast  as  we 
can  get  into  it,  for  the  Indian  is  the 
key  to  the  nation’s  evangelization. 
The  priests  recognize  this  and  some- 
times say  to  us,  “You  may  have  the 
Ladino,  but  keep  your  hands  off  the 
Indians.’’  Now  it  is  among  them 
that  good  strategy  calls  for  our 
supreme  effort.  When,  among  them, 
this  agelong  soul  hunger  is  satisfied, 
when  these  capabilities  are  devel- 
oped, when  this  latent  power  is  con- 
secrated to  God  and  they  have  be- 
come a redeemed,  enlightened, 
civilized  nation,  who  save  Heaven 
itself  may  set  the  limit  of  their  pro- 
gress, or  define  the  extent  of  their 
influence  upon  the  world’s  redemp- 
tion. 


Rev.  Edward  M.  Haymaker. 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.S.A. 
156  FIFTH  AVE.,  NE’CT  YORK 


Form  2460 


November.  1916 


